Disclaimer: Sonic The Hedgehog and all related characters are copyright to SEGA. Athair the Echidna was originally copyright to Sonic Archie Comics and Sonic Underground. I changed him a lot, but they still get credit. Lemon the Echidna, Tenchi the Hedgehog and all related characters that don't belong to SEGA belong to me, Zeldafreak-Vikki and my friend, Alyssa the Bat!
Author's Note: Well, 3rd term of school has started. I passed Term 2 okay but this last term is gonna be a bit harder, especially since this is when my French and Socials teachers like to torture us the most. And that means I'm going to have to really work hard, especially when exams come around. I'll still try to keep this up but if my updating slows down, that's why and I'll have to wait 'til after my current school project or exam is done. But I'm sure I'll be able to keep up with everything (unless my teachers are planning something bigger than the mega project they just dumped on my head). Aside from that, THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!! Now, Chapter 21! (keep in mind I was a mixture of tired and hyper when I wrote this chapter) :p
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – APOLOGIES
"Look, Shadow! That's Earth down there. Isn't it beautiful?"
"I guess so..."
"What's the matter? You don't look very happy..."
"I, uh... It's nothing, Maria, don't worry about it."
"Wha-? Who're you callin' Maria?!"
Shadow's eyes snapped open as he recognized Sonic's voice. He looked over and saw the blue hedgehog sitting there beside him, looking very annoyed and tired, with his arms crossed and some very heavy bags under his eyes. Shadow himself was lying on a couch, covered with a blanket. He took one look around the room and recognized it as Rouge's living room. He stiffly sat up and blinked, one of his eyes feeling very sore.
"Shouldn't I be dead right now?" he asked, his throat as dry as sandpaper.
Sonic smiled and shook his head. "Shuri and Shade healed you with the Emeralds, although I'll bet Shade would've rather finished you off."
Shadow chuckled. "Well, that means he's back to normal... Ow..." Slowly, the black hedgehog reached up and rubbed over his eye slowly, which he began to notice, was only opening halfway. "Wha-?"
"Don't you remember?" asked Sonic, suddenly looking cautious.
Shadow's hazy memory took a few moments to recollect everything, but when they did, Shadow wished he could have had Amnesia all over again. He groaned at the memory of Lemon's reaction to seeing him again and fell back onto the couch, his arm hiding most of his face. Sonic sighed.
"Hey, man, it'll be okay," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "I mean, she'll get over it sooner or later."
Shadow shook his head. "It's hopeless... I should've died last night... Would've saved me the misery." With that, he turned over and lazily threw the covers over his head, not wanting to look at anything at the moment. Sonic reached up his hand to stop Shadow from hiding but thought better of it. He knew Shadow was feeling pretty upset and he couldn't blame him. That black eye probably hurt him on the inside more than on the outside.
The uncomfortable silence hanging in the air was suddenly broken as two little echidnas rushed in. Sonic looked up to see Shade and Shuri hurry in, closing the door and sighing with relief. Sonic grinned as they walked up to him, happy to not have to deal with Shadow at the moment.
"Escaping from Rouge's wrath, huh?"
Shuri nodded, folding her hands together politely. "I hate to say it, but Miss Rouge is overreacting! I don't see why she was so angry with you, Neo!"
Sonic chuckled nervously at being called by that name. "Uh, Shuri, it's okay to call me Sonic, I kinda go by that now," he said, smiling. "And as for Rouge, I guess she was just worried for you."
Sonic's mind was saying something much different. Quite honestly, Rouge was angry at both Sonic and Tails for not doing anything about Shuri standing there, naked. At first, Sonic thought it was because of the snow, which was a bit absurd since Shuri barely needed it, being a project and all. Then he had realized that Rouge thought he was a total pervert. Sonic had no idea what to say to that. At least Amy didn't agree with Rouge, saying that they didn't have any clothes to cover her with in the first place but the sexist bat wouldn't listen. Sonic left himself a mental memo to avoid Rouge in the next few days.
At least now Shuri was wearing some clothes, borrowed from Lemon. She was wearing a yellow T-shirt and a little black skirt that just went past her knees. Shade was different from last night too. Since Yami was now destroyed, Shade's face had been restored. Sonic saw that Shade had deep red eyes, almost like Shadow's, except instead of being warm and understanding, they were cold and accusing. Either than that, he had the usual features of an echidna except for one little thing...
"Wow, Shade, I don't mean to be rude, but you're a bit shorter than I remember," said Sonic, looking down on him as he stood up. The little echidna growled, baring his fangs.
"Don't talk to me, you stupid hedgehog!"
Shuri rolled her eyes. "Shade, don't be so loud. I think Shadow's asleep..." She tried looking past Sonic. Sonic looked back at the mess behind him. "Don't ask me. Honestly, I don't think he's in the mood to talk."
Shuri still came to beside Shadow, concerned. "Shadow?"
An annoyed groan responded. Shuri stared. "Oh dear..."
Shade shrugged and turned to leave, not wanting anything to do with the situation. On his way out, he glanced over to Arashi, who was sitting by the door, doing absolutely nothing. Shade stopped walking.
"Hey, Arashi," he said, as casually as possible. "Does Shadow know what really happened?"
Arashi looked over to him, a mixture of sadness and anger on his face. "No. And it had better stay that way, or else we are all at risk."
Shade heaved a sigh and walked along, arguing with that familiar voice in his head.
"I just talked with Sonic," said Rouge, walking in. "Him, Amy and Arashi have just gone home."
Lemon looked up from where she was lounging in a chair. "And those two little echidnas...?"
Rouge sat down across from Lemon. "They've gone to stay with Sonic as well. So it's just the three of us."
Lemon leaned back in her seat, giving no indication that she had heard the word "three". Rouge sighed and leaned forward, showing that she wanted to talk.
"So," she said, trying to start a conversation. "I guess you wanna stay here again?"
"If it's alright," replied Lemon, her tone slightly colder than usual. Rouge hesitated, then spoke.
"Of course it's alright with me, I'm gonna need some help anyway." She waited for Lemon to react to this, which she did. "Help with what?"
"Well, you know Shadow," said Rouge, ignoring Lemon's bitterness towards the hedgehog. "Knuckles and Sonic were telling me that he's been acting a bit depressed lately. And your friend Arthur said he found him with a knife so I want to keep him here for awhile, see if we can cheer him up."
"I guess," said Lemon, some of her cold attitude melting at this news. Tenchi – no, Shadow – was acting suicidal? What could drive him to something so serious?
"I think I'll go check on him," said Rouge, getting up from her seat. "You wanna come?"
Lemon paused, then got up from her seat. Even she couldn't stay mad forever.
The two girls walked through the now silent house. Neither of them spoke, absorbing the evening air. It helped to calm them down after all of the excitement of Lemon's kidnapping. Lemon herself hadn't cared so much. Maybe she was still in shock? Or maybe she felt so safe and confident about Shadow that she hadn't felt so afraid.
They came to the living room and Rouge approached the couch where Shadow was lying, still covered. She sat down on the stool where Sonic had been sitting earlier and very gently pulled the blanket down a little so she could see his head. He had turned away from her direction, facing the back of the couch. At first, he didn't move at all and Rouge assumed he was asleep. Then he groaned and moved a little, opening his eyes and glancing up at her.
"Hey," said Rouge, smiling a little. "Glad to see you're awake."
Shadow slowly rolled onto his back and sat up, rubbing his sore eye. Lemon stayed back, watching him from afar. She felt too guilty, facing him with that black eye she had inflicted upon him. Rouge stood up. "Are you hungry?" she asked Shadow.
Shadow paused, then shook his head. Rouge gave him a very skeptical look and Lemon raised an eye ridge. Shadow hadn't eaten a thing for the past night and day and his skin was already turning pale. However, Rouge didn't fight it. If Shadow didn't want to eat, she wouldn't force him... yet.
She turned to leave and while passing by Lemon, whispered to her.
"Now's your chance," she said. Lemon looked after the bat, bewildered. What did that mean?!
Shadow sighed as he collapsed back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling. Lemon hesitated, then slowly approached him. When she saw that he chose to not even look at her, she sat down beside him. And in that moment, she felt as if things were back to normal.
"Shadow," she said, not completely looking at him, but not looking away either. Her insecurity led her to crossing her arms as she began. "Look, I, uh, it was really wrong of me to get so mad at you..."
A huge silence fell on the two of them for a long time. Lemon internally yelled at herself for even trying to talk to him and for sounding so stupid. Shadow glanced over at her hunched back. Against his better judgment, he sat up, not wanting this to go any longer. At the same moment he spoke, so did she.
"I'm sorry."
Lemon smiled and let out a little chuckle. Then she hugged him, in a much warmer sense than before. Shadow sighed with relief, glad she wasn't angry. He would've never wanted to tell her, but he felt like an empty shell without her. She suddenly pulled away and Shadow noticed she was blushing a little. Was he blushing too?!
"I, uh... I really missed you..." she muttered, her face burning. Shadow gulped, his chest throbbing. A strange feeling was flooding his brain. Was this...?
She moved in a bit closer, her hand slowly touching his shoulder lightly. He hesitated, feeling as if in that moment, he was paralyzed, then found himself and reached his arm gently around her back, bringing her in close. She took a shuddering breath and, finally fulfilling her dreams, kissed him. She even smiled a little.
At that moment, the door slammed open, making them jump. But what was standing there was even more frightening than the sound.
"HEDGEHOG! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
Athair. Shadow clenched his teeth, knowing he was in for a world of hurt. Lemon, seeing him cringe, stood up, giving her grandfather a severe look.
"That's enough, pop!" she said firmly, shocking everyone in the room. "If you lay one hand on Shadow, I'm never talking to you again! I'm serious!"
Athair opened his mouth to argue but no words came out. He was stumped. Lemon grinned, knowing she had nailed him. Unlike Knuckles, Lemon could actually stand up to her grandfather. Athair growled as his anger went through the floor.
"I'll be keeping my eye on you, hedgehog," he growled, then turned and left. Shadow remembered to breath as the room's air became less tense. But he knew he'd have to watch his back for the next few weeks.
Would he survive?
Author's Note: Oh yes, will he survive? Ah well, at least Lemon and Shad are VERY friendly now. I wasn't gonna let them stay apart. Sorry I'm kinda slow, I had to write this in parts to get it done because of all the homework I've been getting. Do my teachers WANT to kill me?! (
Author's Note: Well, 3rd term of school has started. I passed Term 2 okay but this last term is gonna be a bit harder, especially since this is when my French and Socials teachers like to torture us the most. And that means I'm going to have to really work hard, especially when exams come around. I'll still try to keep this up but if my updating slows down, that's why and I'll have to wait 'til after my current school project or exam is done. But I'm sure I'll be able to keep up with everything (unless my teachers are planning something bigger than the mega project they just dumped on my head). Aside from that, THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!! Now, Chapter 21! (keep in mind I was a mixture of tired and hyper when I wrote this chapter) :p
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – APOLOGIES
"Look, Shadow! That's Earth down there. Isn't it beautiful?"
"I guess so..."
"What's the matter? You don't look very happy..."
"I, uh... It's nothing, Maria, don't worry about it."
"Wha-? Who're you callin' Maria?!"
Shadow's eyes snapped open as he recognized Sonic's voice. He looked over and saw the blue hedgehog sitting there beside him, looking very annoyed and tired, with his arms crossed and some very heavy bags under his eyes. Shadow himself was lying on a couch, covered with a blanket. He took one look around the room and recognized it as Rouge's living room. He stiffly sat up and blinked, one of his eyes feeling very sore.
"Shouldn't I be dead right now?" he asked, his throat as dry as sandpaper.
Sonic smiled and shook his head. "Shuri and Shade healed you with the Emeralds, although I'll bet Shade would've rather finished you off."
Shadow chuckled. "Well, that means he's back to normal... Ow..." Slowly, the black hedgehog reached up and rubbed over his eye slowly, which he began to notice, was only opening halfway. "Wha-?"
"Don't you remember?" asked Sonic, suddenly looking cautious.
Shadow's hazy memory took a few moments to recollect everything, but when they did, Shadow wished he could have had Amnesia all over again. He groaned at the memory of Lemon's reaction to seeing him again and fell back onto the couch, his arm hiding most of his face. Sonic sighed.
"Hey, man, it'll be okay," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "I mean, she'll get over it sooner or later."
Shadow shook his head. "It's hopeless... I should've died last night... Would've saved me the misery." With that, he turned over and lazily threw the covers over his head, not wanting to look at anything at the moment. Sonic reached up his hand to stop Shadow from hiding but thought better of it. He knew Shadow was feeling pretty upset and he couldn't blame him. That black eye probably hurt him on the inside more than on the outside.
The uncomfortable silence hanging in the air was suddenly broken as two little echidnas rushed in. Sonic looked up to see Shade and Shuri hurry in, closing the door and sighing with relief. Sonic grinned as they walked up to him, happy to not have to deal with Shadow at the moment.
"Escaping from Rouge's wrath, huh?"
Shuri nodded, folding her hands together politely. "I hate to say it, but Miss Rouge is overreacting! I don't see why she was so angry with you, Neo!"
Sonic chuckled nervously at being called by that name. "Uh, Shuri, it's okay to call me Sonic, I kinda go by that now," he said, smiling. "And as for Rouge, I guess she was just worried for you."
Sonic's mind was saying something much different. Quite honestly, Rouge was angry at both Sonic and Tails for not doing anything about Shuri standing there, naked. At first, Sonic thought it was because of the snow, which was a bit absurd since Shuri barely needed it, being a project and all. Then he had realized that Rouge thought he was a total pervert. Sonic had no idea what to say to that. At least Amy didn't agree with Rouge, saying that they didn't have any clothes to cover her with in the first place but the sexist bat wouldn't listen. Sonic left himself a mental memo to avoid Rouge in the next few days.
At least now Shuri was wearing some clothes, borrowed from Lemon. She was wearing a yellow T-shirt and a little black skirt that just went past her knees. Shade was different from last night too. Since Yami was now destroyed, Shade's face had been restored. Sonic saw that Shade had deep red eyes, almost like Shadow's, except instead of being warm and understanding, they were cold and accusing. Either than that, he had the usual features of an echidna except for one little thing...
"Wow, Shade, I don't mean to be rude, but you're a bit shorter than I remember," said Sonic, looking down on him as he stood up. The little echidna growled, baring his fangs.
"Don't talk to me, you stupid hedgehog!"
Shuri rolled her eyes. "Shade, don't be so loud. I think Shadow's asleep..." She tried looking past Sonic. Sonic looked back at the mess behind him. "Don't ask me. Honestly, I don't think he's in the mood to talk."
Shuri still came to beside Shadow, concerned. "Shadow?"
An annoyed groan responded. Shuri stared. "Oh dear..."
Shade shrugged and turned to leave, not wanting anything to do with the situation. On his way out, he glanced over to Arashi, who was sitting by the door, doing absolutely nothing. Shade stopped walking.
"Hey, Arashi," he said, as casually as possible. "Does Shadow know what really happened?"
Arashi looked over to him, a mixture of sadness and anger on his face. "No. And it had better stay that way, or else we are all at risk."
Shade heaved a sigh and walked along, arguing with that familiar voice in his head.
"I just talked with Sonic," said Rouge, walking in. "Him, Amy and Arashi have just gone home."
Lemon looked up from where she was lounging in a chair. "And those two little echidnas...?"
Rouge sat down across from Lemon. "They've gone to stay with Sonic as well. So it's just the three of us."
Lemon leaned back in her seat, giving no indication that she had heard the word "three". Rouge sighed and leaned forward, showing that she wanted to talk.
"So," she said, trying to start a conversation. "I guess you wanna stay here again?"
"If it's alright," replied Lemon, her tone slightly colder than usual. Rouge hesitated, then spoke.
"Of course it's alright with me, I'm gonna need some help anyway." She waited for Lemon to react to this, which she did. "Help with what?"
"Well, you know Shadow," said Rouge, ignoring Lemon's bitterness towards the hedgehog. "Knuckles and Sonic were telling me that he's been acting a bit depressed lately. And your friend Arthur said he found him with a knife so I want to keep him here for awhile, see if we can cheer him up."
"I guess," said Lemon, some of her cold attitude melting at this news. Tenchi – no, Shadow – was acting suicidal? What could drive him to something so serious?
"I think I'll go check on him," said Rouge, getting up from her seat. "You wanna come?"
Lemon paused, then got up from her seat. Even she couldn't stay mad forever.
The two girls walked through the now silent house. Neither of them spoke, absorbing the evening air. It helped to calm them down after all of the excitement of Lemon's kidnapping. Lemon herself hadn't cared so much. Maybe she was still in shock? Or maybe she felt so safe and confident about Shadow that she hadn't felt so afraid.
They came to the living room and Rouge approached the couch where Shadow was lying, still covered. She sat down on the stool where Sonic had been sitting earlier and very gently pulled the blanket down a little so she could see his head. He had turned away from her direction, facing the back of the couch. At first, he didn't move at all and Rouge assumed he was asleep. Then he groaned and moved a little, opening his eyes and glancing up at her.
"Hey," said Rouge, smiling a little. "Glad to see you're awake."
Shadow slowly rolled onto his back and sat up, rubbing his sore eye. Lemon stayed back, watching him from afar. She felt too guilty, facing him with that black eye she had inflicted upon him. Rouge stood up. "Are you hungry?" she asked Shadow.
Shadow paused, then shook his head. Rouge gave him a very skeptical look and Lemon raised an eye ridge. Shadow hadn't eaten a thing for the past night and day and his skin was already turning pale. However, Rouge didn't fight it. If Shadow didn't want to eat, she wouldn't force him... yet.
She turned to leave and while passing by Lemon, whispered to her.
"Now's your chance," she said. Lemon looked after the bat, bewildered. What did that mean?!
Shadow sighed as he collapsed back onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling. Lemon hesitated, then slowly approached him. When she saw that he chose to not even look at her, she sat down beside him. And in that moment, she felt as if things were back to normal.
"Shadow," she said, not completely looking at him, but not looking away either. Her insecurity led her to crossing her arms as she began. "Look, I, uh, it was really wrong of me to get so mad at you..."
A huge silence fell on the two of them for a long time. Lemon internally yelled at herself for even trying to talk to him and for sounding so stupid. Shadow glanced over at her hunched back. Against his better judgment, he sat up, not wanting this to go any longer. At the same moment he spoke, so did she.
"I'm sorry."
Lemon smiled and let out a little chuckle. Then she hugged him, in a much warmer sense than before. Shadow sighed with relief, glad she wasn't angry. He would've never wanted to tell her, but he felt like an empty shell without her. She suddenly pulled away and Shadow noticed she was blushing a little. Was he blushing too?!
"I, uh... I really missed you..." she muttered, her face burning. Shadow gulped, his chest throbbing. A strange feeling was flooding his brain. Was this...?
She moved in a bit closer, her hand slowly touching his shoulder lightly. He hesitated, feeling as if in that moment, he was paralyzed, then found himself and reached his arm gently around her back, bringing her in close. She took a shuddering breath and, finally fulfilling her dreams, kissed him. She even smiled a little.
At that moment, the door slammed open, making them jump. But what was standing there was even more frightening than the sound.
"HEDGEHOG! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
Athair. Shadow clenched his teeth, knowing he was in for a world of hurt. Lemon, seeing him cringe, stood up, giving her grandfather a severe look.
"That's enough, pop!" she said firmly, shocking everyone in the room. "If you lay one hand on Shadow, I'm never talking to you again! I'm serious!"
Athair opened his mouth to argue but no words came out. He was stumped. Lemon grinned, knowing she had nailed him. Unlike Knuckles, Lemon could actually stand up to her grandfather. Athair growled as his anger went through the floor.
"I'll be keeping my eye on you, hedgehog," he growled, then turned and left. Shadow remembered to breath as the room's air became less tense. But he knew he'd have to watch his back for the next few weeks.
Would he survive?
Author's Note: Oh yes, will he survive? Ah well, at least Lemon and Shad are VERY friendly now. I wasn't gonna let them stay apart. Sorry I'm kinda slow, I had to write this in parts to get it done because of all the homework I've been getting. Do my teachers WANT to kill me?! (